Hungover

Posted on September 7, 2007
Filed Under Music |

I’m rough today. Last nights Fish gig at the Jam House was amazing. It all started with the worst smoked sausage supper I’ve ever eaten. It seemed from the outset that this was going to be the ‘Night of the Hibbies’ and it certainly was as my chips were served up by a teenager in a full Hibs strip who seemed to be involved in a Tom and Jerry style escalating conflict with the other shop assistant, a 17 year old girl. As sauce was squirted and empty boxes thrown at each other across the small space behind the counter, my chips almost became an afterthought to them.

On to the Jekyll and Hyde pub and the first beer of the evening. Half an hour in and an enormous figure approached us. “How’s it going guys?”. Hibby number 2 of the evening had arrived as Fish joined us for a couple of pints and we shot the breeze about everything from football to the new album via the news that his ex-wife was moving back to Haddington. As Fish left to head to the gig, we continued our descent into drunkenness with a selection of alcoholic beverages.

Upon arriving at the gig, Hibby number 3 made his appearance as John Leslie breezed by, stopping to shake my hand bizarrely on his way in. This was starting not only to look like the ‘Night of the Hibbies’ but more specifically ‘Night of the Celebrity Hibbies’. With Hearts suffering a particularly poor start to the season, I was getting it tight.

The gig was fantastic, the big man on form, prowling the stage in that inimitable way he does. His new material came out the strongest on the night, possibly stronger in my eyes than the Marillion material which felt a bit like revisiting old haunts a bit too much, particularly for me having seen Marillion perform the Hotel Hobbies/Warm Wet Circles/That Time of The Night trilogy in Holland. The new material came across strongly. Fish writes his best material when he is a wounded man and his recent breakup with Heather Findlay has provided the momentum for his best work to date. The only complaint about the gig would be that only one encore was played, with ‘Incommunicado’ the only song. I’d say though that this was due to curfew restrictions rather than an unwillingness on Fish’s part.

All round - magic night.

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